The Other World
by WritingBolt
Summary: The unknown can be a mysterious thing and Hiccup and Toothless are about to uncover the true depths of it all. After a fight with Dagur the two awake injured and seperated in a strange place. Upon meeting a strange girl with a peculiar history, they find themselves as a centerpiece for something much bigger. The journey has only just begun. HICCUP AND TOOTHLESS SENT TO MODERN DAY
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

Sailing through the clear skies of Berk aback a dragon truly was a liberating feeling. The weightless feel as you glide through the air and the exciting sensation of adrenaline coursing through your veins as you lose control over the directions in which you travel really were feelings that could not be rivalled with in many areas. Of course Hiccup got to enjoy this privilege on a daily basis. Every day the boy and his dragon arose from slumber to enjoy hours of freedom travelling the atmosphere at blinding speeds yet with utmost grace and serenity, only to repeat to the process again in the cool, crisp air of the evening sky.

Right now was no exception. Hiccup and Toothless braved the freezing cold mid-day temperatures to venture outdoors with their friends, it wasn't as if they had much choice in the matter anyway, it was on the chief's orders they were out here. It was a mission really. Hiccup and Astrid were to undertake the risk of scouting the furthest reaches of Berk's territory on patrol for enemy ships and/or potential threats. Snotlout, Ruffnut and Tuffnut were searching the areas closest to Berk's mainland and Fishleg's was somewhere in-between.

"It's a beautiful day today, isn't it?" Hiccup asked, forcing his voice through the thick onslaught of wind pushing against them so that his voice made it to Astrid's ears.

"No!" Astrid disagreed, rubbing her hands up and down her bare arms, "It's freezing!"

"I mean other than the terribly cold temperatures! It's not snowing or raining or hailing, just nice clear skies and white clouds!"

"Hiccup, I'm freezing my butt off up here. I'm not really focussing on the _beauty of the outdoors_; I'm a lot more bothered about finishing the task in hand so I can go home and warm by the fire!" The blonde teenager argued.

The overall climate of Berk was pretty cold anyway but the temperatures currently being endured as of now were well below freezing and enough to make even the toughest of Viking men shiver. Devastating Winter had just come to pass, so there wasn't much chance of a _devastating_ storm but that wasn't to say there'd be no heavy snow or hail in the following days.

"Let's just get this done then, I hate to admit it but the cold is really starting to get to my leg." Sighed Hiccup as he subconsciously moved his left hand to rub his left thigh. Astrid glanced over at him with poorly concealed concern.

"We can head back if you want to. I'm sure Stoick would understand."

"No, I'll be fine, don't worry!" Hiccup dismissed with a light shake of his head. Beneath him, Toothless growled. "What is it, Bud?"

"Hiccup, what's happening?" Astrid was curious as to why the Night Fury had suddenly taken a cautious stance. As the four of them continued flying, Stormfly's dislike in the area abruptly became apparent, now both dragons had set up a defensive barrier of threatening noises. Their riders looked around yet could see nothing of much threat. There were only a variety of large rock columns protruding from the deep blue surface of the sea and a couple of undersized islands that were far too small for inhabitants.

"Whoa!" Hiccup yelped in surprise when Toothless suddenly jolted to a stop, the lanky teen was almost thrown out of the saddle from the sheer suddenness of the halt. Stormfly and Astrid were quick to repeat although not with nearly as much force as the former. "Toothless, Bud, what's going on?" Hiccup asked the darkly coloured, reptilian creature he was seated upon. Said dragon whipped his head around, his body following shortly after, to look in the opposing direction. Toothless barked loudly before continuing in his deeply voiced growling and rumbling. Hiccup could feel the dragon vibrating with every sound he made and it left the auburn haired boy feeling very on-edge.

"Stormfly, what is it?" Astrid questioned her own dragon as its pupils shrunk to slits and the tail became a dangerous weapon armed with row upon row of lethal spikes. Before any human reaction time could be counted for, both dragons swiftly evaded an oncoming arrow- unseen by their riders. "Where the hell did that arrow come from?!" Astrid cried with surprise.

"I have absolutely no idea!" Hiccup replied in the same manner of speaking as Astrid. Both looking towards the direction the arrow was shot from, they saw nothing. There were no ships and no people, or dragons for that matter, to be seen. Another arrow hurtled past an alarmingly fast speed towards them, if they weren't earlier; they felt they were definitely being targeted now. A maniacal laugh sliced through the air like a knife through butter. "I know that laugh!"

"What laugh?" Astrid was puzzled; she'd been too focussed on finding the location of their attacker to hear the display of utmost craziness. Hiccup flew lower to the water only to shoot back up again as another one of the pointed, wooden missiles was launched towards them. It was followed by another round of cackling.

"Dagur…" Hiccup muttered under his breath, Toothless made a loud, shrill noise of agreement. "Astrid! It's Dagur!"

"How do you know? I can't see him anywhere!"

"Hiccup's right! It is I, Dagur the Deranged!" An all too familiar voice sounded out as a man and a dragon revealed themselves from a large cavern in the side of one of the massive rock columns and flew towards them. It wasn't just any ordinary dragon, mind you, the majestic beast that emerged forth was nothing less than the mighty Skrill- and Dagur was riding it. "Look at me now, Hiccup! I have the Skrill under my control! That Night Fury will be mine!" He laughed with increased levels of insanity.

"Dagur, how on Earth did you get that Skrill?!" Hiccup shouted across at their demented enemy, "We re-froze it back in the glacier almost a year ago!"

"How I got such a wonder is none of your concern! All you need to worry about is saving that dragon!" The muscled man snapped back, a wide sinister grin creeping across his face.

"You're not getting Toothless!" Hiccup argued, exasperated.

"We won't let you!" Astrid continued, backing her friend up. Dagur raised one eyebrow,

"Think again." He stated simply before ordering the Skrill to fire lightening the in direction of the two teenagers and their dragons. Its two, rather small, front facing eyes narrowed to slits as it realised who his master's intended enemies were- it snarled in frustration when they both escaped the electrical violence and began flying away.

Both Hiccup and Astrid knew that they had very limited ideas to how they could even begin to face the Skrill, in the past; they'd almost been defeated by it by means of the lightening it controlled and emitted- which proved to be very dangerous. Hiccup also remembered that metal seemed to attract the fatal bolts of electricity, and the two of them sported quite a lot of the sturdy stuff. "Give it up whilst you still can, Hiccup! I _will_ get what I want!"

"Leave us alone, Dagur! Your actions are going to start a war between our tribes, and nobody wants that!" Hiccup stressed, looking back over his shoulder once or twice to see their advancing opponents closing the gap between them.

"Wrong!" Dagur sung, "That's exactly what I want! I want to unleash a bloodthirsty, Berserker armada on Berk! I want to _kill_ your dragon and I want you, Berkians, all on your knees beginning for mercy!"

"That's insane!" Yelled Astrid, she whipped Stormfly around and the scaly blue beast shot three precise spines, aiming more for Dagur than the Skrill. The formers' eyes narrowed, much like dragon he rode, as he attacked Astrid with another round of lightening, the girl and her dragon avoided the attack in the nick of time but sped up anyway. She got as close as she could to Hiccup and Toothless, without having the dragons' wings hit into one another, so they could talk without Dagur over-hearing.

"Hiccup, what are we going to do? We can't take Dagur on right now; he'd kill us both with that Skrill!" She exclaimed, she didn't want to retreat from battle but she also wanted to live to see Snoggletog.

"I know! We need to get to Berk and warn my dad!" Hiccup hissed glancing back once again at Dagur who was now practically radiating with absurdity.

"And how are we supposed to do that?" Astrid deadpanned

"I don't know! Stop pressuring me!" Hiccup's voice strained as he fought to keep from yelling yet tried to stay loud enough for Astrid to hear. Rather suddenly, Hiccup found himself almost colliding with a vast brick wall emerging from the sea.

Seaweed and small crustaceans were attached to it as the surprisingly calm waters lapped up at the sides. The wall seemed to stretch for miles upon miles and stood taller than three long boats stacked vertically upon each other, it had an eerie and rather mystical and magical presence. One minute they'd been bordering Berk's southern territories and now… well now Hiccup had no idea where they were, by the looks of things neither did Astrid nor Dagur.

"What the…" Astrid's voice trailed off as she slowly looked the wall up and down, how far south exactly had Dagur chased them?

"Who on earth would build a wall in the middle of the ocean?" Dagur suddenly shot out, throwing his arms into the air. The Skrill seemed to be getting impatient with just hovering there. Its deep-purple body rippled with blue electricity, all the way from its crested head to its spiked tail.

Dagur stayed a few feet behind Hiccup and Astrid, maybe if they stayed frozen with confusion and surprise long enough he could take them _both_ down whilst they weren't expecting it. It was a pretty low blow but Dagur _needed_ that Night Fury. The young chief slowly raised his wooden crossbow and loaded the arrow, before he could shoot either of them; both of his targets flew further up into the atmosphere, as though trying to find out what was over the other side of the visibly aged wall. Ordering the Skrill to move closer, he closed one eye and aimed carefully, he brought his long, sweaty fingers around the trigger with anticipation and, without a second thought, fired.

Luckily, Toothless' impeccable senses alerted him to the happenings behind him. He snapped Hiccup out of his reverie and before either boy or dragon even knew what they were doing; Hiccup had forcefully manoeuvred Toothless into Stormfly, effectively pushing her out of the way of the course of the wooden bullet's path, to save the unsuspecting Viking atop the Deadly Nadder from the oncoming arrow.

"Astrid!" He screamed to her, just before they collided, to get her attention. Consequently, the sharp weapon embedded itself into his shoulder, it went in directly underneath his leather shoulder pad on his riding harness, and tore straight through his green tunic and invited itself into the soft flesh underneath. The green-eyed Viking immediately felt fiery pain sear through his shoulder, he gritted his teeth as he felt the area of the wound heat up as deep red began to ooze out and dampen his clothing.

Hearing Hiccup crying out in pain, Toothless began to panic- not knowing whether to fly away and find land or to attack Dagur who was now gleefully laughing and preparing for a second shot.

"Hiccup! No!" Astrid cried. All the commotion startled Stormfly and caused her to uncontrollably fire a set of spines in random directions, two of which found targets.

One found its way to the Skrill's shoulder, sending him into a fury. The pained dragon screeched in detest before attempting to throw Dagur off of its back. However, before that happened, the mighty dragon managed to electrocute the young chief with its hazardous bolts. Dagur howled out in agony at the unexpected attack, crying out further when the Skrill began losing altitude at a rapid pace and landed them both in the icy sea stretching out below.

As a result, the water became a death trap. Dagur realised this rather quickly. His eyes widened comically as he rushed towards the nearest rock column. Luckily he managed to climb up onto it and save himself from what could have potentially been a particularly painful death.

The other spine tore straight through Toothless' artificial tail fin. Without the fin properly intact, the Night Fury was unable to fly.

Toothless, already meters above Stormfly in his attempt to save both himself and his rider from the earlier assault of spikes, fought to keep in the air despite the large, tearing hole in the middle of the bright red fabric of his prosthetic, as he knew Hiccup was injured and crash landing would make everything much worse.

With a clouded and confused mind, Toothless flew up and over the wall without thinking; a brilliant white flash of light scorched both of their eyes, and a burning pain suddenly racked through both of their bodies. But before the light stole their vision, Hiccup had caught sight of what was below him.

When he was fighting Dagur, it appeared that the ocean continued this side of the wall, yet when the boy happened to glance down he noticed there was grassy land beneath them.

Both Viking and dragon felt themselves losing their grips on consciousness as they plummeted on a downwards trajectory. Spinning in impossible circles, Toothless couldn't manage to get Hiccup to safety in his wings- there was nothing either of them could do. He gave one final roar of fear before being dragged into darkness by the fists of unconsciousness, Hiccup was soon to follow. He heard Toothless' roar and a faint feminine voice screaming his name muffle in his ears before everything went dark- yet they were still falling. At least he wouldn't feel the impact of the landing immediately, if he were still alive to feel at all that was.

What nobody knew, however, was how far away from home they actually were. That wall was made by the Gods to never be found. It was supposed to be too far south and too much of a dangerous journey for ships from the Archipelago to reach, and too unknown, isolated and practically invisible due to a form of magic (not to mention set in the middle of nowhere) to be discovered by anyone in the other lands.

The wall had two very noteworthy purposes; it separated two extremely different worlds- different in more ways imaginable, but more importantly, it prevented anyone from accidently stumbling into the arduous duties already ingrained into the fate of the prophesized beings.

And, unfortunately for Hiccup and Toothless, the unknown had a lot of things in store for them.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

As Hiccup slowly came around he noticed many things. For starters he could feel an extremely soft and comforting cushion of some sorts pressing against his back as he lay flat out. He soon realised that he wasn't outdoors either; he could feel warmth in the air surrounding him that could only come from a source of indoor heat.

His head pounded viciously and a strange tingling pain was present in his right arm and left knee. Once his brain had begun to co-operate with him, Hiccup tried to move his body but the attempt was futile.

All too suddenly the skinny Viking remembered what had happened, as if moving was the key to unlocking the memories: the fight with Dagur, the mysterious wall, the agonising feeling searing through his body as they fell, the crash.

He must've crashed, Toothless blacked out just before he did which means that both of them must've been falling - they must be on the other side of that wall.

But if Hiccup was here - wherever _here_ was - where was Toothless? Upon this thought, Hiccup's heart sped to the point that he could hear it thumping in his ears and he forced his weary body to open his eyes. An intense light momentarily blinded him.

He was indoors alright. Four white walls and a door surrounded him, a strange light buzzed over-head, long and rectangular, but there was no fire, so where was the light coming from? Hiccup looked around and was more or less confused by everything around him.

Noticing he was lying in a bed, he brought his left hand to stroke the soft fabric not noticing what was attached to the back of the appendage - what on Earth was this bed made from? It was so comfortable and inviting; cotton blankets neatly covered him and kept him warm.

Beeping filled his ears; looking to his left he saw some strange contraptions. They seemed to be partially made of metal and one made an irritating, high-pitched beeping noise, the screen had symbols he could not understand and little lines that moved in time with the beeping. Another metal pole supported small, transparent bags of fluid and had thin tubes sprouting from the bottoms. Hiccup's eyes followed the tubes until they he realised that they were attached to him, they were taped into the back of his left hand.

The now shaking teen was about to move his right hand to remove the tubes when he felt pain surge through his entire arm, he slowly turned his head to look, dread filling his stomach, and realised that his arm was wrapped in a stiff white fabric and tucked into a fabric sling which in turn was wrapped around his neck.

Looking around further Hiccup noticed that his green tunic, leggings, boot and furry gilet were neatly slung over the back of nearby a chair. He looked down and saw he was wearing some sort of thin V-necked tunic or something. But more importantly, where was his prosthetic? Hiccup kicked his right foot over to where his left leg would have been and met nothing but air, his prosthetic was gone.

"What's going on? Where am I?" Hiccup muttered under his breath. His breathing picked up in pace and tears stung in his eyes. As he panicked, the beeping on the strange contraption next to him sped up too and it was freaking him out more than words could say. He wanted to get up and run, find Astrid, Toothless, his dad - anyone, but only had one leg so that wouldn't be wise.

"Toothless?!" Hiccup yelled as loud as he could. "Dad?! Astrid?! Someone!" Tears escaped as he frantically tried to squirm out of the bed, bad idea.

Hiccup slipped and fell onto the hard floor. His left knee and right arm screamed in protest as his pulsating head hit the solid surface. "Ugh!" He grunted as he rolled onto his side. Ignoring the terrible pain he was in, Hiccup attempted to crawl away but as he'd only just woken up, he was slightly groggy and running purely on adrenaline and the thought that he had no idea what was going on.

_"You need to get back into bed, laddie! What do you think you're doing?"_ A strange women dressed in blue clothing ran over to him. She brought out a small black box and spoke her foreign language into it. Hiccup looked at her through the tears, who was she? _"C'mon, I'll help you." _She spoke again. Hiccup shuffled backwards away from her until his back hit a wall and he was physically too tired to move or fight. As intrigued by everything as Hiccup was, he was still absolutely terrified. Although he'd been and done many things, he didn't like this one bit. He was hungry, thirsty, in pain and surrounded by strange things and a foreign women.

"What?" Hiccup asked weakly, his throat sore. The women's smile faltered slightly.

"_You're not from around here are you, lad?"_ She asked, Hiccup whimpered slightly as she put a hand on his shoulder and another foreign-talker walked in. He had greyed hair and wore a grim expression. A long coat, white in colour, sat on top of all his other clothing.

"_What's going on here?" _He asked. Hiccup gulped and trembled violently, more tears falling from his eyes, he wanted his dragon. Maybe if he called loud enough, he'd hear him and come to his rescue.

"Toothless?!" Hiccup shouted with as much strength as he could muster, making both the man and the woman jump. "Toothless?! Where are you?!"

"_Calm down, son, you were in an accident. We're going to help you." _The man kneeled down by him and helped the women lift Hiccup back onto the bed, Hiccup moaned under his breath as quietly as he could as the movement jostled his injuries around.

"Where am I? Where's my dragon? What happened?"

"_What language is that?" _The short women asked, her long brown hair gently waving as she turned to look at the man. His thin lips were set in a straight line and his blue eyes were trained uneasily upon Hiccup.

"_I have no idea. Do you think we could get him to write something down so we can figure it out?" _ He answered, still watching Hiccup.

"_It's worth a try, let's just hope he's left handed; I've got paper and a pen in my pocket." _Pulling the equipment out, she handed it to Hiccup who looked at her in a confused manner. Hiccup lifted the pen and stared at it with mild interest.

"W-what is this?" He asked in Norse, still quivering slightly. Hiccup waved the pen around before asking what it was again.

"_What's your name?" _ The women asked; Hiccup glanced up at her before looking back down at the paper. Did they want him to write something?

"What do you want me to do?" He asked.

"_This isn't going to work, he doesn't understand_." The man spoke up taking the pen and paper away from the Viking.

"_Do you speak English?"_ The women asked. Hiccup pondered over what she said. The last word sounded familiar. He hoped it was the language he partially learned to speak before he'd met Toothless.

For once, practically being an outcast to his village may have had a purpose after all, because before Toothless, his only true commitment had been at the forge and so Hiccup had much more free time than many others his age. Therefore, he'd had taken to trying out a new language he'd heard of. Through this, he'd realised that he had a knack for learning foreign words. It's a good job, too.

"_Eng-lish?" _Hiccup asked slowly, training his ears to listen closely to what they said in hopes he could understand. His heart pounded as they smiled and moved closer to him.

"_Yes. That's right."_ The man nodded his head. Hiccup had very limited English vocabulary but he figured it should be enough.

"_What- no- Where… Where am… I?" _Hiccup pried the foreign words from his brain.

"_You're in Scotland, lad, the U.K." _The women smiled, Hiccup nearly threw up when he realised he was no longer in known territory, how could he have travelled so far? He suddenly had the urge to demand what was going on but refrained. So many emotions were swirling around in his aching head it was getting harder to think. _"My name is Carol, what's your name?" _

"_My… name?"_ Hiccup asked just to confirm. He knew his name in English; it was one of the first things he'd learned.

"_My name: Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third."_


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

"Chief!" Astrid yelled as loudly as she could, she couldn't help but limp as her tired legs began to tremble with the strain of their own weight. Her blonde hair was dirtied with a light layer of ash and so were her clothes. A small gash was visibly bleeding across her temple. Stoick's house was drawing nearer and nearer, all she had to do now was drag her weary body up the hill. "Chief!" She tried again. This time her voice broke slightly, tears brimmed in her blue eyes but she forced them back, fearless Astrid Hofferson couldn't be seen crying, not even in a dire situation like this.

Banging on the old wooden door, her fists began to tremble. The door suddenly flew open at the hands of Stoick and Astrid almost fell inside. Before this happened though, the tall chief caught her by her quaking shoulders and looked down at her with worry.

"Astrid! What happened to you?! Your parents have been worried sick! Where in Odin's name have you been?!"

"I'm sorry chief. It was Dagur. He attacked me and Hiccup when we were patrolling the southern reaches." Her voice sounded uncharacteristically small and breathless as she cast her gaze down towards the floor.

"Is Dagur here now? I'll lock him up in Berks' prisons for good!" Stoick yelled vociferously, anger coursing through his body at the younger chief. Dagur always seemed to be interfering, why did he always attack out of the blue? Surely he wasn't so deranged that he'd lost all sense of reason.

And the way Astrid was looking to the ground - as if trying to avoid saying something - was beginning to make Stoick feel somewhat nervous. "Where's Hiccup?" He asked no louder than a whisper. Dread began to pool in his stomach.

"I don't know, sir. He got shot down, he… he…" Astrid's voice trailed off but Stoick needed to know what had happened, as both a father and as a chief.

"Come inside, Astrid, I'll get you something to drink and a cloth for your head. Then you can tell me what has happened."

"Yes Chief." Astrid blinked repeatedly and drew in a shaky breath. She herself was still trying to get over, and work out exactly what had happened. But that was hard when Hiccup's screams of agony and Toothless' roars still rung clearly in her ears; she still remembered just how loudly she had shrieked Hiccup's name as they vanished into the light. She remembered how both she and Dagur were momentarily shocked at what had unfolded before their eyes until Dagur managed to control the Skrill and set his sights on hunting her down like prey. It was like some sick, twisted sport of his.

Astrid could feel Stoick's large, meaty hand on her shoulder, leading her over to take a seat by the fire – it was Hiccup's seat. It didn't feel right sitting in his favourite chair but she couldn't bring herself to move after the chief had set her down there.

Astrid suddenly recalled something her mother had once told her, something about shock and what it feels like. She remembered her mother saying not to worry if she were to ever experience shock; many of the bravest warriors went into it at some point as it was something that couldn't be helped. She had a feeling that she was going through shock right now.

Stoick snapped her out of her thoughts when he gently handed a mug of warm Yak milk to her and pressed a cold, damp cloth to the side of her head. She smiled slightly before taking over, wincing as she pressed the cloth harder into the cut with her free hand.

"So what exactly happened out there, Astrid?" Stoick asked as he sat down in his large chair, "Where is my son?"

Large green eyes opened to view the surroundings. The eyes blinked a few times as everything came into focus. Pain danced throughout his body and it felt as though someone was repeatedly smashing a metal hammer against his skull. But he could fight through it, he had to. He was tough, a dragon, and he had greater duties right now; he needed to protect his human.

Toothless moaned in a deep voice as he rolled onto his stomach. He could feel the saddle still strapped firmly around his body but could feel no rider. A damp, warm substance was partially dries on his back; the rest trickled ever so slowly down his sides and dripped onto the ground below.

Toothless manoeuvred his head around and weakly sniffed at the liquid. It was blood. The smell wasn't dragon blood though, Toothless was more than sure of that, it was Hiccup's blood. He'd smelt that particular smell quite a few times and knew that it meant something bad had happened.

Hiccup was in danger, Toothless knew it; he wasn't stupid. He should've grabbed the boy in his wings to protect him. What was he thinking?! Just letting himself fall into the grasps of unconsciousness whilst Hiccup had no protection at all against the impact. Guilt washed over the Night Fury in uncaring waves, a horrible feeling that he had only encountered a few times.

Knowing that he needed to find Hiccup, dead or alive as he may be, Toothless dragged himself to his feet.

The effort was a lot greater than he had originally thought it would be, it made everything in his body ache in protest, his vision swam and his stocky legs trembled. His front right paw was aching particularly badly; he'd have to keep his weight off of that one.

Looking around, he saw that he was in a forest, trees of all different sorts stood tall and bold against the slightly foggy backdrop, bushes and long unkempt grass covered the ground in a messy image. Toothless looked behind him just to be sure that Hiccup wasn't there, he wasn't. Although the dragon hadn't really expected his rider to be lying on the ground behind him, he couldn't help but feel his stomach sink a little lower in sadness and worry.

Toothless called out for his friend but heard nothing in response, he limped a couple of steps forwards before a particularly heart-lifting smell wafted into his nose. Hiccup. He panted heavily from exhaustion as he tried to limp just that little bit faster at the glimpse of hope his nose was giving him. He passed through a thick clump of trees and noticed that the smell had grown stronger, Hiccup _had_ to be there! The black dragon pushed his way through some bushes before coming to a complete standstill at the other side. It was a small clearing. The trees circled around it as their branches grew over the top like a sort of deformed bird cage, or they should have. Instead there were broken twigs littering the ground and, looking up, Toothless could tell that his human had fallen through here.

At least the landing wouldn't have been at harsh as it could have been. The grass grew so long and matted together that even Toothless was having trouble seeing over it, and dense bushes grew in a profuse amount, practically everywhere and anywhere there was for a bush to grow. Nearer the middle of the untidy clearing there was a small, Hiccup-sized dent in one particularly mangled plant. Pushing the tiredness threatening to consume him away, Toothless battled his way to the area where Hiccup had fallen. There was blood smeared across the plant, but no bod was to be seen.

Upon seeing this, the dragon suddenly felt all the pain and fatigue wash over him once more yet this time paired with a feeling of utmost helplessness for his human; he knew full well that he wasn't going to be able to search for Hiccup in this state so he sniffed the bush one last time before curling up into his human's scent. He'd search for him in the morning; he couldn't have gone too far, not with his shoulder how it was. It was quite uncomfortable to lie on but he simply didn't believe he possessed the strength to heave himself back up again, so he didn't, he couldn't.

The evening sky was beginning to darken, the pinkish clouds were going grey and the moon was emerging from behind a mountain. Toothless whimpered to the sky before bringing his head down into his front paws. _"I will find you, Hiccup, even if it kills me."_


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

The doctor and the nurse smiled lightly before quickly glancing up at one another then back at Hiccup.

"_Your real name son_." Carol, the nurse, stepped forwards slightly, surprised when Hiccup flinched backwards into the bed. The auburn haired boy swallowed thickly as he attempted to translate what she'd said, all he'd heard were the words; "your" and "name".

"_My name?_" Hiccup forced the foreign words from his tongue with great effort; in all honesty it was giving his brain a through beating. Metaphorically of course.

"_Yes, your name, what is it?"_ She asked again after muttering something to the doctor who was now leaving. Hiccup thought that he'd already answered that question, maybe they hadn't understood; maybe _he_ hadn't understood.

"_Hiccup,"_ He gestured to himself, "_Name is Hiccup._"

"_Hiccup?"_ Carol scrunched her thin eyebrows together before taking one of Hiccup's sweaty hands in her own and taking a seat on the bed besides him. _"Okay, Hiccup, how are you feeling?"_ She decided that it was probably best to get started with the questioning whilst he was conscious.

"_I feel?"_ Hiccup stuttered, trying with utmost difficulty to uphold this conversation. It didn't help that he was beginning to have a rather difficult time concentrating as his vision morphed into and out of focus. He wasn't all there.

"_Yes, honey, do you hurt anywhere?"_ She smiled warmly, trying to comfort her patient.

"_Hurts, yes. Little." _Hiccup admitted, feeling slightly stupid after releasing such information. What if these people with their strange contraptions were a potential enemy?! What if they were going to take over _his_ land? What if they were going to use this information of his weakness against him? What if he was really just being paranoid? Questions swirled around Hiccup's foggy head; he was having an increasingly hard time concentrating. At least his thoughts were in Norse.

"_Can you tell me where?"_

"_Um… Huh?" _Hiccup faked not being able to understand, he knew that she wanted to know where it hurt, he just didn't want to answer. The nurse looked to him with sympathy causing him to shift uncomfortably, that's when it hit him. Maybe the foreign women knew where his prosthetic leg could possibly be. "_My… leg." _Hiccup hoped she'd understand what he was saying, heck; he hoped he was saying the right words for all this!

"_Your leg hurts?"_ She asked gently. Hiccup shook his head, his hair flicking around madly.

"_No… Where it is? Look…" _The young amputee grunted in pain as he attempted to lean forwards and pat the space where his left leg would be. Before he could quite do that though, Carol removed her hand from his and softly tried to lower him back down into the propped up cushions.

Struggling against the women restraining him, Hiccup accidently hit his arm off of the plastic bar running the perimeter of his bed. They'd put this up to prevent the boy from escaping again. A blinding surge of pain shot through his right shoulder and arm, it soon spread throughout his body and made him feel weak… Well weak-er.

"_No, no, no. Lay down, that's it. It's alright, just lay back down."_ The petite women spoke quickly as Hiccup cried out in pain. Said boy had no idea what was being spoken to him but recognised the tone of voice as soothing and soon settled back down. A single tear escaped against his will as he gritted his teeth against the onslaught of unwanted feelings.

"_How is he?"_ The grey-haired doctor from earlier had returned, and was quickly making his way towards them as he spoke. Hiccup's eyes unfocussed again as his head rolled limply to the side.

"_Not too good, he says he's in pain but doesn't really speak much English so he doesn't understand when I ask him where it hurts. I think he's showing signs of concussion and he just knocked his open wound, the one on his shoulder, on the bed. I think the poor child just wants to sleep now; we can ask him more when he wakes." _Carol reported in a professional voice. The man nodded and right-handedly scribbled something down on his clipboard.

"…_M' tired…_" Hiccup slurred, not sure whether or not it was safe to give in to his urge to sleep. Both adults turned to look at him.

"_Get some rest; we'll come back later when you're awake, okay?"_ The doctor leaned over him slightly, giving a brief smile then turning to leave. Carol began checking the different machines surrounding the bed before injecting something into one of the bags. Before too long, Hiccup could no longer feel the terrible pain his arm had presented him with, it had now lessened to a throbbing annoyance. Sleep fogged his thinking and he felt himself falling into its clutches, deeper… deeper, until his eye lids slid closed and his tense muscles finally relaxed


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

It was cold. That was the first thing that registered in his bleary mind. It blanketed his aching limbs in an unwanted embrace and wouldn't let go. For a minute he believed that everything that had previously happened had been nothing more than a dream, a fantasy of the mind, but then he felt the mangled plant and smelt the weak whisper of Hiccup's blood beneath him.

Toothless moaned in a deep grumble as he rolled over onto his stomach and forced his eyes open. He was still alone. Hiccup was still missing. Although he wasn't quite expecting him to be there when he awoke, there was still a slim chance. As he attempted to find his footing he looked down and realised that the mangled remains of Hiccup's metal stirrup had become entangled in the bushy growth below. Too weak to pull himself free using sheer force, the Night Fury turned around and began to chew through the dried brown, stained red, plant.

It would have been a lot simpler to just snap the metal off but, despite it being horribly damaged, Toothless just didn't have the heart to break it further. He knew how long Hiccup had spent improving and tweaking Gobber's original design, and he didn't want the teen to have to start again completely from scratch.

A monotonous rumble filled the air and snapped Toothless out of his thoughts. Instincts kicked in and the dragon ripped himself free from the undergrowth before bolting into the cover of the tightly-knit trees, ignoring the rippling pain emanating from his front right paw. He must've twisted it the wrong way when he landed. Toothless felt relatively shaky as the adrenaline danced through his blood in an emphasized way. The rumbling sound was getting nearer and nearer, what was it? No dragon Toothless had ever came across sounded like that, in fact it didn't sound like anything he'd ever heard- full stop.

Upon straining his ears he noticed that there was in fact an insignificant pause between each burst of sound. It almost sounded… mechanical, like one of the Viking's inventions. It made "whoosh"-ing sounded at such a fast pace that they merged together to create the frightening rumbling sound. The dragon attempted to run again, making sure to avoid tripping over on the thick tree roots weaving through the muddy ground and the aged trees that seemed to mock his utmost distress.

Rather suddenly, Toothless found himself skidding into another clearing. Only this one was a lot cleaner and sported a clear pond of water in the middle. In some respects it felt and looked like the cove where The Boy and his Dragon had bonded but at the same time it was completely different. A small cave sat to the right and was covered in lively green moss and well cared for flowers. The rumbling sound began getting even closer and Toothless looked up, again, there was a protective cage over the top of the clearing where the branches from the trees had weaved their skinny fingers together. Through a small gap bright sunlight beamed down through the leafless canopy and momentarily blinded him. Shaking his large head and squinting his cat-like eyes a small shiny object could be seen hovering around in tight circles. If only he could fly up there and see what it was…

If only he had Hiccup. The Night Fury couldn't remember a time when he had wanted Hiccup so badly, he _needed_ to know if he was okay, he _needed_ to see him; it was as though he had just been wiped clean of the face of the planet. Like the Gods themselves had snatched him up and left nothing more than his blood behind. _"Don't think like that!"_ Toothless scolded himself mentally. Hiccup had to be fine, maybe he was just as lost as he was, searching for his dragon- feeling just as alone, just as frightened. Now Toothless felt even worse. It was almost as though his mind was working against him! How was he ever supposed to think straight and keep level-headed above all this stress when all his brain could conjure up were depressing and uncomfortable, guilt-ridden thoughts?

Sighing a hefty dragon sigh, Toothless leaped up onto a particularly tall rock, not noticing the smaller rocks protruding from the side and travelling in pairs to the peak like some sort of ladder. He strained his hind legs to support his body as he attempted to stand straight, much like a human would. Almost falling of the rock, Toothless huffed in annoyance and tried again, this time sniffing the air as he did so. Something didn't smell right. But before he could register what exactly that smell was; the low rumbling began to return.

Toothless adjusted his large scaly ear-plates to get as much sound in as possible. What was that thing? It hummed and buzzed as it gradually got louder. Bright rays of sunlight reflected off of it and back into the dragon's eyes, threatening to blind him. Squinting again, the dragon growled before losing his footing and falling back to the ground below before he even had the chance to open his wings.

His injured paw crumpled beneath his body and was squashed to the ground, if it wasn't broken before it definitely felt broken now. His already shredded, prosthetic, tail fin managed to get caught on one of the tiny pointed rocks on the way down. The fabric was instantly pulled away and left nothing more than jagged stubble along the leather attached to the muscled tail. Luckily, none of the other equipment was damaged upon impact so Hiccup shouldn't be too upset.

Without consent, the pain blossoming in achy bursts brought an overpowering urge to sleep along with it. Toothless felt completely vulnerable and weak. He wasn't feeling much like the legendary Night Fury right about now, right now; he felt more like a common Terrible Terror. Not exactly the best way to begin a search for a missing friend but it couldn't be helped. He caught one last glimpse of the reflective object quickly retreating from the visible sky and into the distance before his head flopped limply onto the ground.

Toothless could feel himself slipping further and further into unconsciousness, and was about to welcome it when a blurry figure stumbled into his vision. Was it Hiccup?! Toothless couldn't tell; he also couldn't keep his lead-lidded eyes open any longer; he gave a long whine of unease before falling victim. The last thing he could recall hearing was a heavy thud, a gasp and an inaudible whisper…

"_Night Fury…"_


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter six

It was a few days before Toothless came back around again, he seemed to have fallen unconscious, which was something that was beginning to happen so often it looked as though it was a hobby. A friendly warmth radiated across one side of his body whilst the other remained victim to the biting cold. Peeling one green orb open, Toothless saw a fire. It was quite a small fire but nevertheless it generated a welcome heat. Upon further inspection the dragon realised that there was a rather tasty looking fish sizzling away, skewered by a thin stick, hanging over the orange flames.

Toothless opened his other eye and shifted his weight further towards the flickering warmth; he almost forgot the predicament he was in.

"I thought you'd like that." An unfamiliar voice laughed gently. The Night Fury immediately leapt to his feet and began to growl, wincing inwardly upon putting pressure onto his injured paw. His head whipped around to reveal a beautiful stranger. It was a girl, maybe a women; Toothless couldn't quite tell her age.

She was perched upon a fallen tree, holding the stick with the fish on it; her long light brown hair was merely inches from the floor in all of its tangled glory. Her lengthy tresses were knotted together so badly they looked matted, the loose waves didn't really help much either. Her deep blue eyes held more mystery and longing than Toothless had thought possible and her light pink lips were parted slightly as she watched him. "Don't be afraid, Night Fury. I am not sure how you got here but I understand how confused you must be. I am from your time too, although… many years before, if that makes any sense at all. I would say more but I fear that may not be wise."

Toothless growled quietly in response, still baring his teeth. He didn't trust this stranger, as inviting as she was, she may be out to kill him, or capture him; you never know who the enemy is.

"Lay back down, Night Fury, your paw is injured. It is quite alright, you can trust me; I have seen you before- although not how you would think. I also know why you were sent here, I know many things which you wouldn't expect." She spoke in a gentle voice that seemed to flow fluently and beautifully from her mouth. Her tone was very soothing but her words were pronounced more like an elder than a youth, this only added to the mystery surrounding her background.

Toothless lowered himself back to the floor with small thump but didn't once take his eyes away from the women. She brought the stick she was holding away from the fire and inspected the fish speared upon the tip. She hummed in satisfaction before pulling the limp sea-dweller away and propping the stick up against the tree she was sat upon, she stood up and stepped towards Toothless. The rag-like clothing she wore dragged across the ground, no wonder there were so many tears and rips in the dirty fabric. When the dragon made no move to attack she took another step before bowing in respect to him. "Eat this. You need to regain your strength; you've been asleep for a few days." She knelt down to the ground and extended her arm towards him, holding the fish as an offering.

The smell wafted into his narrow nostrils and caused his stomach to growl loudly, the stranger smiled and pushed the food closer. Toothless raised his head and eyed the fish. He looked it over before pushing his snout forwards to smell it. It didn't smell odd at all, he couldn't detect any sort of poison or anything, so he opened his jaws and snatched the fish from her grasp. Talk about Déjà vu, it felt like meeting Hiccup all over again.

The girl smiled before moving her hand closer to him. Without thinking twice he began to growl.

"Don't worry. I only want to check your foot. You can trust me. I promise I will not do anything to harm you." She edged closer and Toothless stopped growling, the quicker he was healed, the quicker he could get back to finding Hiccup.

Her petite hands found their way to his large paw, which was currently wrapped in damp leaves, and she began to press down in various spots. Toothless snapped at her hand when she hit a particularly painful sport near the base of one of his claws, his more animalistic side kicking in for a moment. The girl didn't seem startled by this at all. "Temper, temper." She muttered whilst shaking her head before undressing the greenery from the injury.

Wringing the leaves out, she placed them to the side. She got to her feet, which Toothless noticed were bare, before going over to the clear pond and kneeling by the waters' edge. She returned minutes later with some fresh leaves, they were a dark auburn colour and saturated with liquid. She leaned over and carefully began to wrap the paw up as it was before.

Toothless cooed in approval of the cold water against the burning pain.

"Your paw should stop hurting soon. From what I gather, it is almost healed." She smiled. "I will get you some water to drink, you must be thirsty." And back over to the pond she went. This time though, she returned with a deep, hollow wooden bowl made from a tree by the looks of it. Water sloshed over the edge and encouraged his dry throat to accept. The dragon tucked his hind legs in further and kneeled up slightly, just enough to raise his head from the ground and arch his thick neck so that he didn't choke whilst drinking. The girl placed the bowl on the ground near Toothless' snout before sitting down in front of him, her hands still wrapped tightly around the wood. "Don't mind me. I am not going to take the water, it's just that the bowl will not stand on its own, I must hold it so that the water doesn't spill."

Bowing his head down, Toothless immediately guzzled the contents as though he'd never tasted water before. He downed the entire bowl in less than a minute before looking up almost pleadingly or more. She giggled before going standing back up.

"Yes, I shall fetch you more water, Night Fury!" She did as she said and brought the thirsty dragon some more. After about his fifth bowl, he was satisfied. Toothless was beginning to like this stranger. "May I touch you?" She asked, biting her lip slightly. Toothless cooed in approval, he couldn't sense any immediate danger and he couldn't see any weapons, maybe the girl was true to her word and wasn't going to harm him. She seemed about as harmless as Hiccup.

She lightly brushed her hand across his scaly head, just above his eye before moving it down to scratch the underside of his jaw. Toothless immediately rolled over onto his side and closed his eyes in content, cooing and grumbling the whole time. The girl laughed before leaning over to whisper into the dragon's ear. "Do you trust me?" Her voice was feathery. Toothless rolled back onto his stomach and crossed his front feet over one another on the grass, his inured one on top. He raised his head and looked at the girl carefully, her expression slowly turned serious, as if she was considering something.

Toothless pushed his head closer to her and felt a small hand upon his head, the owner of the hand closed her eyes before whispering something under her breath. She re-opened her blue eyes and brought her hand back to her body. Without even having to think about it, the Night Fury knew what had happened. Toothless had never experienced this kind of thing before though, it felt strange, like a tiny electric shock. Then a light pressure took hold of his heart and head. There was only really one way to test whether or not his theory was correct.

"_What is your name?"_

"My name is Eydis. And I have been waiting for you and your rider for a long, long time."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter seven

The next time that Hiccup awoke, he was much more aware of everything going on. It had only just lodged into his mind that he was injured, in a strange place, surrounded by strange people, with absolutely no idea what to do. In fact, there wasn't really much that he _could_ do, especially with being confined to his bed and all.

When he opened his eyes, he took a good proper look around the room. Hiccup paid each tiny thing an amazing amount of detail, all the strange moving lines on the beeping machine next to him, the light source above his head which worked without a flame to light it, the shiny metal poles holding bags of fluid and the sheer brightness of the room overall. Each wall was as bright as the last and the door was just as bad.

Whilst looking at the door, Hiccup noticed that there was glass in what could only be a window; it was very clever in his opinion. It would keep anything unwanted like bugs, or rain, or snow out whilst still being able to see outside. Glass didn't smell as bad as the water sodden, wooden door covering the window in his bedroom roof either; and that was always a plus.

The lanky teenager continued scanning his eyes across the room and noticed some long rectangular strips attached together by a beaded string, shifting gently, almost… blowing in the wind. _'That's it!'_ Hiccup thought, if he could just get to see outside, he may be able to see where to go next. Maybe he'd see a settlement that he had heard off, maybe there would be other people like him outside, or maybe he'd be able to catch that tiny glimmer of receding hope before it diminished permanently.

Normally, Hiccup wouldn't be one to give up hope so easily, but given the situation, everything did seem slightly on the downside. And as fascinating as everything around him was, he didn't want to be stuck here. If he had accidently travelled here with Toothless when they were _supposed_ to be discovering new territories and lands then maybe it wouldn't be so bad. But being _shot down_ by Dagur made it an unwanted trip.

Taking deep breaths, Hiccup forced all unwanted noise out of his ears. He slowly wriggled upwards until his head touched the top of the bed then used his good arm to pull himself up into a sitting position. Since the last time he'd been awake (however long ago that was) the pain jumping throughout Hiccup's body had dimmed down to a dull, throbbing annoyance. He looked back over at the rectangular strips before attempting to bring the side of the bed down so that he could escape. Before he could do that though, a stern voice told him otherwise.

"_I'll be having none of this again, laddie! Lie down and stay down! You don't want to go about making your injuries worse!" _It was Carol again, his friendly English nurse. Ignoring the jumble of sounds that he couldn't understand, Hiccup posed his own question.

"_What is those?" _Hiccup racked his brain to at least try and pair up the words so that they made sense. He just hoped that although his English grammar was awful, he could still be understood. As he spoke, the boy pointed to what he'd been previously looking at. Carol's gaze followed her patient's slim finger to the wall.

"_You mean the blinds?"_ She raised one eyebrow and walked over to tap her hand upon the intended object.

Hiccup nodded, _"Yes. Blinds. I never had… hear'd of dem… before." _These words seemed to be getting harder and harder to pronounce. Every time he spoke in the foreign language it felt as though the words were matted to his tongue. The nurse seemed to understand though.

"_You ain't never heard of blinds? Blimey, I dunno where you must've been living!" _Her smile faltered slightly. _"Hey, where are you from, lad? Where did you live?"_

"_I cannot tell. You may… be enemy, or… you may… tell duh enemy" _Hiccup still didn't trust this women completely, but who could blame him? He barely knew her!

"_Don't worry, I'm no enemy. I'm here to be your friend and to help you get better! You want that, don't you? You want to feel better so you don't hurt any more. Is that right?"_

"_Yes. I do not like being pained. I had enough of dat with leg!" _A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth after attempting to make his first joke in this new language. Surprisingly to him, Carol smiled too.

"_I should think so!" _She laughed, _"I'll tell you what. How about we spend some time and get to know each other if you're feeling up to it. Do you want to do that?"_

"_And you are not de enemy? No?" _Hiccup pushed himself further into a seating position, making sure that his back was leaning comfortably up the soft cushions.

"_No. I mean, an enemy wouldn't tell you things about herself, would she?" _

"_I guess no." _

"_Exactly. So… do you want to start from the very beginning again? What's your name? My name is Carol." _She pushed a hand to her chest as she introduced herself.

"_My name is Hiccup."_ He replied.

"_So, Hiccup, how old are you? I'm thirty-seven," _She leaned forwards into his ear, _"But that's a secret, I never tell anyone my age, it makes me sound old! 'Kay? It's our secret." _When she pulled back Hiccup nodded with a smile.

"_I am… Uh…" _ He tried to pluck the English numbers from his mind, _"Uh… One… Seven."_

"_You're seventeen?"_ Carol confirmed, _"I must say, you look younger than that! That'll come in handy when you get older!"_

"_My friends do not believe age sometimes too, I am oldest which is good luck because I am tallest!" _Hiccup chuckled, still praying that he wasn't messing this up big time.

"_Really? It is lucky isn't it?" _She smirked as she thought out her next question. _"So, do you have anyone special back home?" _

"_Um… I- yes. Astrid…" _Hiccup rubbed the back of his neck. Just the thought of Astrid made him want to leap out of the bed and run all the way back to Berk for her, to make sure she is safe. Was she safe? What if Dagur got her?! Hiccup's eyes widened.

"_Don't worry, I was only teasing."_ The friendly nurse ruffled his hair, Hiccup breathed a little quicker upon his own thoughts.

"Astrid." He muttered in Norse, "No! no, no, no. I have to get back to Berk. I need to get back. Carol, where is my leg?!"He exclaimed, frantically patting the bed around him, as if hoping his prosthetic would just appear.

"_I don't understand your language, Hiccup. What's wrong?"_ Carol placed a hand on his good shoulder.

"_I got here when enemy shot me with arrow. I don't know how. Friend might got captured! He might hurt friend! I need to go home! Where is my leg?"_

"_Your leg is being kept in one of the other rooms, now calm down. I'm sure your friend is fine!"_

"_You not understand!"_ Hiccup yelled, _"Enemy is very dangerous! He did dis to me! He shoot me with arrow!" _The distressed boy gestured to his shoulder. Hiccup was beginning to lose his rational thinking again. All these aspects of the event seemed to be doubling up and causing so much stress as to knock him out of his normal character. Before he could argue any further, Carol was at his side sorting out a strange black chair with large round wheels.

"_C'mon lad, you need to get outside. I'll take you out to the back exit. It's quiet there, and there aren't very many cars, it's also away from the main road."_

"_I do not understand."_ Hiccup shook his head. Once the nurse was happy with the chairs' setup, she lowered the 'defence barrier' as Hiccup had taken to calling it and leaned over the bed. She placed one hand on Hiccup's left arm and the other around his back. Standing side-wards, Carol gently pushed Hiccup forwards.

"_Come on, lad; let's get you out of bed and into the chair." _Her voice was very gentle; Hiccup could tell that she did this kind of thing often. Allowing her careful hands to help him, the teen was soon seated in the 'wheeled chair'. It was quite comfy, although he didn't want to admit that. After taking the tubes taped to his hand away, Carol knelt down and raised one of the foot rests so that Hiccup's right foot was comfortably rested without dragging. The brown haired women quickly marched across the room to grab what looked like an item of clothing and began shoving his foot in to it. The item was warm and fuzzy. A sock, and a nice one at that.

Next she grabbed a couple of blankets from the bed and began to cocoon Hiccup. _"I'd take them if I were you; it's bloody freezing out there!" _

"_I am Viking. I am used to the cold!"_ Hiccup laughed, not noticing the confused glance Carol gave him. Once they were all set, the nurse began pushing Hiccup towards the door to exit the room. Heart pounding in his chest, thoughts running through his mind, Hiccup stared at the door. This was it. He was one step closer to getting out of here, now he only had to figure out the rest.

The door opened, Hiccup's eyes widened, and he was one step closer to home.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

This place, wherever it was, really was amazing, truly, frighteningly amazing. Everything was so different to what it was on Berk. Everything from the way things were built to the way that they were coloured, all the smells and sounds- it really was a treat for the senses. After what felt like forever of weaving in and out of different corridors and white washed walls, Hiccup was finally wheeled to a couple of large glass doors. The only problem was the fact that Carol seemed to be walking at a steady speed and not showing any signs of slowing down, let alone stopping. They were going to go straight through the doors!

By now, Hiccup wasn't even looking out at the view; he was too busy searching the wheel chair in hopes of finding something that would stop him from moving. In the end, he settled for the more traditional way and used his voice.

"_Stop!_" He cried, pushing himself further into the back of the chair and bunching the fleecy blankets in tight fists.

"_What's wrong? Are you okay, laddie?_" Carol asked. She leaned around the side of the chair so that she could see Hiccup's panicked face. "_Do you need to go back? You're looking a little peaky._"

"_No… not go back. But you need to stop, look at doors! You going push me through!_" Hiccup breathed deeply, blinking a couple of times before relaxing slightly. Surprisingly, Carol laughed. It wasn't a humorous noise, but all the same it was a laugh.

"_I really do wonder where on earth you lived! You're going to be perfectly fine! These are automatic doors! Trust me, lad, they'll open once we get to them!_"

"_O-okay,_" Hiccup, still overly confused, agreed. Carol continued to push her patient towards the glass doors. Hiccup braced himself for the impact that never came as the transparent exit slid open with a creaky sound and a high pitched squeak. Cold air instantly threw itself at the two, the teens' eyes widened in astonishment as he tried to lean around the chair to catch a glimpse of the strange contraptions again. He heard a soft thud as they slid shut. "Incredible…" He muttered in Norse.

Turning his attention back to his surroundings, Hiccup gasped.

There were no words for this… wonder, everything around him, from the ground to the plants to the metallic contraptions with wheels. A couple of the metal boxes were moving, each of them had at least one person inside, some were filled with people and others were not. And as they moved they made a strange noise, it was like a deep rumble or a growl but not quite. The ones with nobody inside were parked neatly in rows, a few were scattered across the area and were in random spots.

Around the perimeter of the smooth rock-like floor were long, rectangular plants, it was as though someone had taken a large bush and cut it into shape- maybe that's exactly what they did, Hiccup had no idea.

Overlooking all of the rock, metal and bush was a spectacular mountainous backdrop. Unlike many of the mountains Hiccup had seen, this one wasn't caked in deep, hazardous snow, nor did it show any signs of civilization. These mountains were covered in a dense forest of tall, green trees and lush grass. The clouds were thin and sparse and only shrouded the tips of the rugged landscape, everything else remained visible.

"_Impressive, isn't it?_" Carol beamed; she walked around the wheel chair and kneeled down besides Hiccup. Said boy was still speechless at this moment in time, his grip on the blankets went slack and awe filled his eyes. Hiccup didn't even notice when a solitary tear slipped down his freckled face. "_Are you okay, lad?_" When Hiccup still didn't respond, the nurse placed a concerned hand on his skinny left shoulder. He jumped at the contact and immediately brought up a hand to his face to wipe the unwanted tear away. He winced as a sharp pain blossomed through his left knee. Winter was always the worst season for his wretched leg.

"_Fine… I am fine…_" He nodded, his dark eyebrows knitting together upon another burst of pain, he closed his eyes. As the lids slipped closed, even for a second, a vivid image of Toothless appeared in his mind's eye. Toothless. What he wouldn't give to see his dragon right about now. His heart ached with the thought of the Night Fury being all alone somewhere, even if he could fend for himself.

He had to find him. But first he had to achieve freedom, and he had a feeling that he wouldn't be receiving _that_ any time soon. Opening his eyes another tear slipped down his face, this time displaying frustration.

"_You don't look fine. Are you in pain?_"

"_No._" Pain was the only thing keeping him sane right now, if he could feel no pain then everything would feel even more unreal, and that wouldn't exactly be ideal given the situation.

A gentle vibration suddenly rippled through the metal of the wheel chair, then another one. Carol didn't seem to notice at first, but then a longer one rolled throughout the ground.

"_We need to get inside._" Carol stated. It was not voiced in her usual caring, soft tone, this tone was deep and worrisome. Before she could begin to turn Hiccup around, the ground began to shake at a terrifying speed. The momentum jolted Hiccup's injuries around and caused him to cry out in pain. The trembling of the ground continued and a loud grumble echoed out, it filled the air and seemed to feed fear into the minds of anyone who heard it. Within seconds of the phenomenon, everything suddenly just stood still again. The shaking ceased and Carol instantly whipped them around, her lengthy hair almost hitting him around the head, and practically ran back into the building.

"_What… was that?_" Hiccup asked shakily. His breathing was shallow and uneven.

"_An earthquake. We've been getting such a strange amount of them. An' it's not just Scotland getting them either, it's the whole of the U.K! But it's strange because each time it's a different place, and it's one after the other, sometime with no break in between. They're getting worse, you know, I hope the government have got something planned for when people go knocking on their door 'bout their houses bein' destroyed!_" Carol huffed as she hurriedly pushed the boy back to his room.

Hiccup didn't understand most of what had been said to him, so he kept quiet, but he recognised that kind of tone, she was angry and she was scared. Whatever was going on was serious.

Looking around, Hiccup noticed there were many rooms just like his own. Each one was occupied with a different person with a different type of injury. Some people were caked in blood, whilst others had various casts around their bodies, and nearly all of them were unconscious. Once they arrived back in the designated room, Hiccup was gently moved from the chair back into his bed but not without the horrible burning pain of his injuries being tussled around. Settling into a comfortable position laying down, he spoke up.

"_Thank you._" He mumbled.

"_You're very welcome. I'm just going to hook you back up and check your vitals then I will leave you to sleep._" The kind nurse smiled in a caring way. Hiccup nodded, his auburn hair falling over his eyes, he could really do with a haircut. After Carol had pressed her cold fingers against his slim wrist, she brought up her left arm to reveal a golden coloured band. Hiccup noticed that it had a small circular face, adorned with an intricate sparkling pattern, which was the part she was looking at; he listened closely and heard her counting under her breath before relaxing her grip on his wrist and bringing her arms down to her sides.

"_What is that?_" Hiccup asked, pointing to her left wrist.

"_This?_" she tapped the golden metal. Hiccup nodded. "_This is a watch. It helps tell you the time._"

"_May I see it?_" The boy asked, holding out his hand expectantly.

"_Of course! Just don't get breaking it._" She laughed lightly before undoing the device and gently placing it in Hiccup's waiting hand. He brought it close to his face and examined it curiously; flipping it around in his fingertips and studying the numbers inside the circle on the front, intrigued by the little black stick that ticked around in loops.

"Wow… amazing." He raised his eyebrows, forgetting that Carol didn't speak Norse he corrected himself, "_It is amazing!_" He spoke in English. He handed the device back.

"_Okay._" Carol fixed the clasp of her watch before glancing down at it. "_I'll let you get some rest now, lad. Do you need anything before I go?_"

"_The…blinds?_" Hiccup tried out the new word he'd been introduced to earlier, pointing in the direction of the single window for back up. "_Could be opened? I want to see outside._"

"_Sure._" The nurse walked over and fulfilled Hiccup's request before going over and placing a hand on the shiny door handle. "_I'll be back in a few hours, just press that red button over there,_" (she pointed to a small button attached to one of the metal stands) "_if you need anything, okay?_"

"_Okay. Goodbye, Carol._"

"_Bye, Hiccup._" She chose to call him by the name he insisted on to give him a form of comfort. Before Hiccup could actually get to sleep though, a tingling sensation prickled up his spine and into the back of his skull. A nauseating feeling presented itself in his stomach and before he knew what was going on, a flash of bright light caused his eyes to snap shut. It was a face, a strangers' face. Hiccup had never seen her before, she was expressionless; her eyes such a deep blue it was mesmerizing, her hair long and flowing in a tangled mess, and wearing filthy rags for clothes. Despite the state of her hair and choice of clothing she was beautiful, bordering the word hypnotic.

Then as quickly as she appeared she vanished in a pale blue mist, and his eyes opened with a start, leaving Hiccup feeling run down and tired. As he came back to reality, he panted for a few moments before swallowing in a deep gulp of confusion and turning his head to look out of the window. The sun was beaming in; the mountains seemed even more inviting. Hiccup couldn't tell why but he felt especially attracted to them. Maybe in time he'd find out, but right now, he couldn't shake the distinct feeling that someone was watching him.

Meanwhile, a pair of gleeful eyes snap open as their owner gasps in delight. She'd found him. Her wait was almost over! After nine decades of loneliness, she had found him. The chosen one. He and his dragon were destined to end her curse and free this world from the clutches of the powerful demon lurking within.

It was almost time.

Crawling over to her left, she ran her hand across a scaly head, she looked into his green eyes as he cooed before leaning forwards and whispering into his large dark ear;

"I have found him. I know where Hiccup is."


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

The following morning, Hiccup was feeling a lot better than what he had the previous few days. Yes, the pain was still present but it no longer felt like his limbs would break all over again if he moved them. At least now he could concentrate on his English a little better, both understanding and speaking the foreign language. And this proved to be a very good thing as muffled voiced sounded out from the foot of his bed. Straining his ears to get a better understanding of what was being said, Hiccup soon realised that they were talking about him.

"_-But what do you suggest we do now, Doctor?_" A voice he recognised as Carol's spoke out. She sounded professional and not at all like the friendly, nurturing women he was accustomed to hearing. He heard a shuffling noise before another voice answered, this one was deep and clearly male.

"_I'm not entirely sure. His injuries are healing up quite nicely, his exterior injuries anyway..._" His voice trailed off and Hiccup heard a heavy sigh. "_You've been spending a lot of time with the boy. What do you suggest? Do you have anything concerning his mental state to share?_"

"_Well, I do think that we may have to keep an eye on him. He's showing signs of memory loss; he seems to have created his own world. Maybe it's linked to the clothes he got here in. Maybe that has something to do with the fact he thinks he's a Viking._" Carol suggested. Hiccup was confused. From what he'd understood, Carol thought that he was lying about who he was; she thought he was from these times. If only they spoke the same language. Then, they'd be on level ground.

"_He thinks that he's a Viking?_" The doctor confirmed. A scribbling noise and the scratching of paper could be heard after Carol hummed in agreement. "_Anything else?_"

"_He says his name is Hiccup- well you heard 'im say it himself when he first woke up. But I ain't ever heard of anyone calling their son Hiccup. He seems to remember having a girlfriend though; maybe we could track her down and ask her about him. Oh an' he doesn't know what anything around him is, I have no idea where he must've come from. You should've seen the way he looked at my watch. The boy was fascinated! _

_We really need to learn more about him, his parents are probably worried sick, and if all this continues, and we find nobody who knows him, we may have to get the police involved._"

The doctor hummed in thought, "_I agree, I think the police may be necessary. What did he say his surname was again, Carol?_"

"_He said his name was Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third. Does he think he's some sort of heir or something? Is he playing dress up?_" Carol sounded very unsure. By now, Hiccup was finding it hard to keep up with what they were saying. He only understood fragments but could tell from the tone of voice that whatever was going on wasn't good.

"_I think I'll book him in for some more scans tomorrow. I think some X-rays are in need to check his left knee, his ribs and his arm and shoulder, I'll also book him in for an MRI, we need to be sure everything is okay with his brain. Let the boy rest today, though, maybe see if you can get some more answers out of him._"

"_Yes, I agree, I'll stay in here with him. I'll try him on some solid food today, he should be able to keep it down- he hasn't vomited or anything whilst he's been here and I think he wants something proper to eat by now, he's been here almost ten days!_" Carol laughed. Hiccup felt his stomach drop, forget about the promise of food; he'd already been here over a week! How had this happened? Something terrible could've happened to Toothless or everyone back at Berk whilst he was laying here doing nothing! No way was he going to be foolish enough to trust anyone now! They were keeping him here, learning his secrets and indirectly accusing him of lying when he should be searching for his dragon and finding a way home.

"_I'll see you at the meeting tonight then, before your shift ends, you can let me know how he has been doing today._"

"_Will do, Arthur,_" She addresses the doctor by his name, "_just be sure not to mention too much on the situation to the other nurses on the station. I don't want this already stressful situation gettin' outta hand._"

"_Don't worry, Carol, I know._" And with that, Hiccup heard a light tapping noise as the doctors fancy black shoes clacked on contact with the hard floor as he made his way out of the room. The loud click of the door indicated that he'd left. Hiccup them heard the soft thudding of footsteps before a warm hand gently stroked his auburn hair back in a maternal way, Carol probably had children of her own.

"_What are we gonna do with you, ay?_" It was like she was two different people. The short women had a professional side (that side was particularly baffling for Hiccup), and she had a caring side, in which she treated him like he was her own son.

Not wanting to give himself away, Hiccup remained "asleep" until he heard Carol exit. A shaky breath passed out of his chapped lips as tried to relax. What was he supposed to believe? Could he really trust this woman? Could he trust anyone in this strange place?

Before he could control them, his thoughts drifted back to the peculiar young woman he'd seen in his mind the previous day, Hiccup couldn't decide whether or not she was real. She sure looked real, and he'd felt a sort of attachment to her when she appeared. What did this mean?

"_Oh, you're awake! Here, I've brought ya some proper food, lad!_" Carol beamed as she pushed the door open with her back. A loud rattling sound accompanied her cheery voice. Upon hearing his nurse, he pulled himself into a sitting position and leaned against the headboard. Hiccup's jaw went slack and his eyes bugged out slightly as he saw the large trolley Carol was pushing. "I dunno what you'm used to eating, so I brought a load of different things, see? There are sandwiches, yogurts, biscuits, cereal- the lot." She turned to face her patient and smiled, flicking a stray piece of hair out of her face. Hiccup was still speechless, he'd manage to force his mouth closed but still could lessen the widening of his eyes. It was like a feast! Like a _Viking_ feast.

But these foods... Hiccup had never seen anything like them. Everything was wrapped or packaged in a substance he'd never seen, where was he to start? His parched throat answered for him.

"_Drink?_" Hiccup asked, motioning with his hand in a way that (hopefully) signified drinking.

"_Well what do you want to drink? Here I have-_" (Carol kneeled down to examine the second shelf on the metallic trolley) "_blackcurrant squash, apple juice, orange juice, milk or water. What do you want?_"

Sticking to what he knew, Hiccup asked for water. The brunette nurse nodded before taking a flimsy looking cup, with small grooves running circles around the exterior, and filling it halfway with water. She handed to small white cup to Hiccup, "_Careful,_" she warned, "_if you hold it too tight it'll spill._"

"_O-okay._" With a shaky hand, the teen guided the cup to his waiting lips, he couldn't remember the last time he'd been so thirsty! His throat was so dry it brought pain with every swallow, so when the offer of the drink came up, there was no way that he was going to refuse. As he tipped the cup up, his hand trembled particularly violently causing the water to spill over the edge. He managed to get some of it into his mouth, causing a bout of coughs to unexpectedly break out, but the large majority splattered onto the white bed sheets as well as him. "_Sorry..._" He muttered as Carol took the cup away.

"_Not to worry, lad, it's only water, it won't stain and I'm sure it'll dry._" Turning away, she poured some more of the cool, clear liquid for Hiccup. Rather than hand the cup over, this time Carol brought the cup to Hiccup's mouth for him. As embarrassed and reluctant as Hiccup was to receive this kind of treatment, he didn't argue.

"_Can I have more?_" Hiccup asked once the cup was empty. The petite nurse beside him shook her head,

"_I'm sorry, son, but you can't have any more yet. It'll make you bad, an' we'm an hospital, we make you better, not worse!_" Her stern voice told Hiccup "no" even if he couldn't understand her words. Then, she walked back around to the trolley (now parked at the foot of his bed) and rummaged around, not quite sure what Hiccup would _want_ to eat. "_What sort of food did you eat back home?_"

Hiccup furrowed his brow at the question. "_I ate fish... Soup... Um... Berry and fruits... And, um... I do not know names. Sorry._"

"_Ah, it's okay, I'll try you on something new!_" Carol lifted a transparent, triangular packet and inspected the contents visible inside. "_How 'bout a sandwich? You like ham?_"

"_Ham?_" Hiccup tilted his head.

"_Don't worry, you'll love it!_" She reassured. She put the sandwich down, still packaged, on the small drawers next to the bed before leaning to the side of it. Carol began fumbling with something that Hiccup couldn't see; the vision greeting his eyes was the top of Carol's brown haired head. She cursed under her breath when she caught her finger on a sharp piece of metal. "_How do you get this bloody table up?_" She mumbled, frustrated.

"_Carol?!_" A panicked stranger burst through the door. Hiccup almost fell out of the bed in fright.

"_I'm here. What is it?_" Carol asked as she stood up, her professional voice leaking out yet again.

"_In room twenty-eight, the patient has gone mad! We need help to restrain her!_"

"_Why? She has been stable for the entire time she has been here!_" Carol's voice rose slightly as she ran towards the nurse that had just rushed in.

"_I have no idea what hap-_" That was all he heard before the two nurses were out of earshot and well on their way down the corridor. With no idea why Carol had suddenly had to run out like that, Hiccup could do nothing but sit in silence and watch people run to and fro, up and down, through the door that had been left wide open. After getting a couple of strange glances, Hiccup subconsciously moved his hand to bring the pale blankets closer to his body, hugging them around himself.

No longer wanting to see the curious looks, the Viking leaned back and sat with his head against the wall, looking up at the speckled ceiling. He puffed air up into his cheeks before forcing it all out in one concentrated blow.

"Alone once again. The joy." Hiccup said aloud to himself. What he wasn't expecting however, was the reply.

"You were never alone to start with," Hiccup never moved so fast in his life, he sat bolt upright and (embarrassingly) gaped like an idiot at what he saw. It was _her_. "Now, let's get you out of here... Hiccup."

**Hi again! I hope you've enjoyed this chapter; it seems that freedom is just around the corner for Hiccup- but what will happen? **

**Thanks for the support so far; and please review if you can, I would really appreciate it. Thanks :)**

**PS: I have updated the other chapters too to remove the mistakes; I want to make more of an effort to get things right from now on. **


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